‘HAUNTED’ HOSPITAL OFF LIMITS TO ‘GHOST HUNTERS’

The Kempton Park Hospital closed its doors the day after Christmas in 1997 with millions of rand worth of equipment locked inside and there’s still no clear explanation why.

Picture: Christa Eybers/EWN.

JOHANNESBURG – Gauteng Infrastructure Development MEC Nandi Mayathula-Khoza has said youngsters and ‘ghost hunters’ are prohibited from entering the abandoned Kempton Park Hospital.

Mayathula-Khoza visited the facility on Thursday for the first time following an Eyewitness News exposé last year that revealed how money was being wasted on security and that millions of rand’s worth of equipment was either stolen or damaged.

She said plans are in place to either refurbish or rebuild the hospital.

The hospital’s doors closed in 1996 and since then about R1 million a year has been spent on security to guard the empty and dilapidated building.

It’s become a popular spot on weekend evenings and has been referred to the ‘haunted hospital’.

MEC Mayathula-Khoza on Thursday made it clear the property is off limits to the public at this stage.

“If there are young people who are coming here at night to do whatever they’re doing, I’d really like to request that they refrain from coming here. It’s a property that belongs to government.”

Community members have also complained that the neglected hospital grounds have become the perfect hiding place for criminals.

It will cost about R1 billion to refurbish or rebuild the hospital from scratch, but it’s up to the Health Department to decide which option is best.

WATCH BELOW VIDEO: An EWN exposé in 2014 revealed how money was being wasted on security and millions of rand’s worth of equipment was either stolen or damaged at the abandoned Kempton Park Hospital.